‘The Muppets’ Hits Ratings Low In Relaunch, ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ Up In Return, ‘The Grinder’ Slips To 0.6

Proving once again that you usually get one shot to hook viewers with a new show as they rarely give you a second chance, the revamped Muppets started with little ratings fanfare last night. While receiving largely positive reviews, the opening episode of The Muppets 2.0 drew a paltry 0.8 adults 18-49 rating and 2.7 million viewers in the fast nationals. Both were series lows, down -27% and -29%, respectively, from the comedy’s most recent original that had posted its previous low marks. Patience is key with comedy but these numbers are pretty discouraging, especially given the fact that The Muppets logged them with a lead-in, Fresh Off the Boat, after being a self-starter at 8 PM in the fall, and only was able to hold on to about half of its lead-in.

Speaking of Fresh Off the Boat, more good news for the plucky sophomore comedy, which returned from hiatus in its new tentpole 8 PM berth with a Chinese New Year-themed episode that drew a 1.4 in 18-49 and 5.3 million viewers. That was up +17% and +33%, respectively, from the family comedy’s last original in December for the show’s largest audience of the season since the premiere.

There was more bad news for ABC at 9 PM where Agent Carter (0.8, 2.8 million) slipped a tenth to a new 18-49 low in Live+same day.

The Muppets was not the only freshman comedy in the danger zone last night. Fox’s The Grinder shed another tenth to a series low of 0.6 in 18-49. Closing out Fox’s comedy block at 9:30 PM, it was the lowest-rated broadcast program last night, tying the CW’s iZombie, which was up a tenth from its last episode. The Grinder is not keeping up with the rest of Fox’s Tuesday comedies, flagship New Girl (1.4, up a tenth from last week), Grandfathered (1.0, up +.1), and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (1.0)

Viewers got in the Super Bowl spirit, lifting CBS’ annual Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials special to a 2.0 in 18-49 and 11.4 million viewers. With six original comedy, 5 drama and one reality offerings on the broadcast networks last night, it was the two-hour clip show on CBS that ranked No.1 in both viewers and 18-49.

Elsewhere, NBC’s Chicago Med (1.6) and Chicago Fire (1.8) held steady with last week’s fast nationals (Med was off a tenth from the final). The CW’s The Flash (1.4) was even with last week, while NBC’s
(1.1) slipped a tenth.